Monday, February 29, 2016

If Rubio hoped that going negative on Trump in the most recent GOP debate and on the campaign stump would reap benefits with voters, it hasn’t resonated with our national respondents. Forty-four percent of voters polled are backing the New York businessman, an increase of two percentage points from a few days ago. Meanwhile, Rubio dropped from 19 percent to 14 percent, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz moving into second with 15 percent of voters’ support.

All of this could just be normal churn but it does indicate that Rubio's gambit to fight Trump with juvenile insults to his manhood isn't resonating with the voters. If you're going to play the dominance game you have to actually dominate. Rubio's attacks came very late and are, in my opinion, the wrong kind for someone like him. He's too fresh faced and callow to get away with schoolyard taunts. Now, if Christie had been in his position it might have worked. But Rubio had enough trouble being seen as a mature, presidential-level leader. This doesn't help.

He should have attacked him quite seriously on his honesty about his business record. That's the foundation on which the Trump mystique relies and if he'd been able to show it for the house of cards it really is he might gotten headway. Cheap dick jokes only work for bully boys like Christie and Trump.